₦17.5 Trillion For “Pipeline Security”: Inside The Biggest Cash Drain Of The Tinubu Era
WHEN the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPCL) quietly disclosed that it spent ₦17.5 trillion in just one year on “pipeline security” and related costs, it did more than trigger public outrage — it exposed what may be one of the most staggering financial red flags in Nigeria’s democratic history.
To understand the scale: Nigeria spent roughly ₦18 trillion on fuel subsidies over twelve years. Those subsidies, for all their controversies, helped keep transport costs stable and prevented food prices from spiralling even further out of reach for millions.
Yet, under President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, nearly the same amount has reportedly vanished in a single year — not into infrastructure, not into refinery rehabilitation, not into power generation — but into opaque “security” contracts shrouded in secrecy and linked to politically connected players.
The administration that insisted Nigeria was “too broke” to maintain fuel subsidies now appears to be spending more than ever to subsidise petroleum through a backdoor: “energy-security cost” and “under-recovery,” new terms that critics describe as linguistic gymnastics masking the continuation of subsidy payments.
According to NNPCL records, the government spent:
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₦7.13 trillion on “energy-security cost” to “keep petrol prices stable”
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₦8.67 trillion on “under-recovery”
— even as pump prices soar above ₦1,000 per litre in some regions.
For many analysts, these figures do not just fail the smell test — they reek.
Unanswered Questions That Strike at the Heart of Accountability
The Tinubu administration has offered no comprehensive audit trail, no contract breakdown, and no explanation for why pipeline security should now cost nearly as much as a decade-long subsidy that served over 200 million people.
Critical questions demand answers:
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Who are the beneficiaries of these massive payments?
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Why did “energy-security costs” jump by nearly 40% in one year?
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What work—exactly—requires ₦17.5 trillion?
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Where are the oversight reports validating this spending?
Instead, Nigerians face crushing inflation, record fuel prices, a free-falling naira, and widespread hunger — while a small circle around the Presidency appears to access public funds on an unprecedented scale.
A System That Punishes Citizens and Rewards Cronies
The administration’s narrative of sacrifice collapses under scrutiny. Nigerians are told to endure hardship “for the greater good,” yet the supposed savings from subsidy removal have been consumed by a spending pattern that resembles elite self-enrichment more than national security.
Pipeline protection — long a cesspool of rent-seeking — has now morphed into a trillion-naira funnel with no visible improvement in security or fuel affordability. If anything, the outcomes are worse.
A Pattern of Secrecy, a Crisis of Trust
This is not merely a budgetary anomaly. It is a structural indictment.
A government that demands sacrifice must itself demonstrate integrity; a government that insists it cannot afford subsidies must not secretly spend trillions under new names; a government that preaches transparency must not hide contracts behind national security rhetoric.
The Path Forward: Accountability, Not Silence
To restore public trust, the government must immediately:
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Publish the full list of companies and individuals awarded the contracts
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Disclose the detailed scope, deliverables, and timelines
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Subject the entire ₦17.5 trillion to an independent forensic audit
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Suspend further disbursements pending verification
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Explain how this spending reflects national priorities during an economic emergency
Nigeria does not lack money; it lacks accountability.
It does not lack potential; it lacks leaders willing to put nation above patronage.
The ₦17.5 trillion pipeline-security bill is not just a fiscal scandal — it is a moral lightning bolt exposing the gap between the government’s rhetoric and its actions. If left unanswered, it could define this administration not by reform, but by the largest cash diversion scheme in modern Nigerian history.
– IKAKKE HARRY, Atiku Media Office, Abuja
